Neck cords for jacquards



P 25, 1962 P. P. L. FRAPPE NECK CORDS FOR JACQUARDS Filed Jan. 18, 1961 W 6 Aw I FAINVENTOR BY 4fimaem W United States Patent Ofiice 3,055,400 Patented Sept. 25, 1962 The present invention relates to neck cords for weaving Jacquards.

In a weaving loom wherein the waip threads are raised and lowered by a Jacquard, each hook of the Jacquard actuates a neck cord of small length to the lower end of which are attached the harness cords corresponding to the warp threads to be controlled by the said hook, each harness cord in turn actuating a heddle through the eyelet of which one of the said warp threads is passed. The neck cords themselves are passed through a substantially horizontal perforated bottom board which supports the lower ends of those of the hooks which are not raised by the knives of the Jacquards. The harness cords are generally attached to the neck cords by means of a snap hook.

In the conventional Jacquards each neck cord is made of a string doubled on itself in the form of a loop, the ends of the string being attached to the snap hook. This arrangement has the disadvantage that the strings wear out very rapidly owing to their passage through the bottom board and therefore have to be changed from time to time. Further these strings are influenced by atmospheric conditions and therefore their length is not perfectly uniform; they have also a tendency to extend in use. It results therefrom that the loom has to be adjusted rather frequently. It has been proposed to overcome these difficulties by making the neck cords from steel wires which are practically inexten'sible and are not liable to wear out by friction against the walls of the perforations of the bottom board. But these steel neck cords cut progressively the material of the bottom board which has therefore to be changed from time to time.

Further the neck cords, whatever may be the material from which they are made, suffer from the inconvenience that the snap hook at their lower end is a rather cumbersome member having sharp edges. In the case of a Jacquard having a very large number of hooks, as for instance of a Verdol Jacquard, the neck cords are close to each other and therefore their snap hooks are liable to rub against each other or against the adjacent harness cords, or further to catch such a harness cord, which of course causes a fault.

The present invention has for its object to avoid these drawbacks and to provide a neck cord which will not wear in use, which will not cut the bottom board, which will retain its original length and which comprises no cumbersome end member.

In accordance with the present invention a neck cord for weaving Jacquards is made as a single member with its lower book from a moulded plastic material having a high mechanical strength and a low coeflicient of friction.

The plastic material used may conveniently be a polyamide.

The neck cord may comprise an enlarged portion which forms the base of the lower hook, the said portion having a groove adapted to receive and resiliently to retain the free end of the said lower hook.

The free end of the lower hook of the neck cord has preferably a terminal head or button which fits in a recess provided at the end of the groove.

The thickened portion may be of semi-circular crosssection, the grooves and the recess being provided in the fiat side of the said portion.

In the annexed drawing:

FIG. 1 is a general view showing a hook of a Jacquard with a neck cord according to the invention attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the neck cord comprising a lower hook.

FIG. 3 reproduces the lower part of FIG. 2, the hook being illustrated at the closed position.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section taken along line IV-IV .of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged cross-sections respectively taken along line VV (FIG. 2.) and line VIVI (FIG. 3).

Referring to FIG. 1 reference numeral 1 designates one of the hooks of a Verdol Jacquard, the said hooks being adapted to cooperate with a vertically reciprocable knife frame 2. The hooks are selectively displaced laterally,

from left to right as seen in FIG. 1, by appropriate needles (not illustrated) in such a manner as not to be caught by the knives of the knife frame 2 when the latter rises. The hooks which are not raised by the knife frame are supported by a conventional bottomboard 3, the latter being either stationary or vertically movable in the reverse direction with respect to the knife frame 2. A neck cord 4 is attached to the lowe end of each hook 1, the said neck cord passing through a corresponding hole 3a of the bottom board 3. The upper loops 5a of the harness cords 5 which actuate the heddles of the loom are attached to the lower ends of the neck oords4.

It should be understood that FIG. 1 only illustrates one book of the Jacquard together with the neck cord 4 and the harness cords 5 associated therewith. In actual practice the Jacquard comprises a very large number of hooks, as for instance 1344 in the case of a conventional Verdol Jacquard, and therefore the bottom board 3 has 1344 perforations disposed close to each other, with 1344 neck cords passed through these perforations and with the lower end of each neck cord actuating a number of harness cords, as for instance six in the example illustrated. It results therefrom that with the conventional construction wherein the lower end of each neck cord carries a metallic snap-hook, it cannot be avoided that these snap-hooks rub against each other or against the harness cords, or that they may incidentally catch an adjacent harness cord. Further if the neck cords are made of hemp strings and have therefore to be changed from time to time owing to the wea caused by friction against the walls of the holes 3a, or if the said neck cords are made of steel wire and cut the bottom board which has to be changed, the operation is in both cases delicate, tedious and expensive owing to the time during which the loom has to remain at standstill.

According to the present invention the neck cord 4 is moulded as a single member in a plastic material having a high mechanical strength and a low coeflicient of friction, as for instance a polyamide, this member embodying an upper portion in the form of an eyelet 4a through which the corresponding hook 1 of the Jacquard is passed, a vertical rod portion 4g and a vertically elongated lower hook 4b adapted to receive the upper loops 5a of the harness cords 5. As illustrated the lower hook 4b is formed of a rod of small diameter bent at with a relatively small radius of curvature, substantially in the form of a U, the upper end of the first branch of this U being integral with an enlarged portion or base 40 of semi-circular cross section (see 'FIGS. 5 and 6) provided at the lower end of rod portion 4g, while its second branch has at its upper end a flat transversely protruding head or button 4d. The flat side of the enlarged portion 40 has a vertical groove 4e with a cross-section in the form of an arc of a circle extending through somewhat more than 180, as clearly indicated in FIG. 5, the said groove extending upwardly from the lower edge of the said portion to a substantially horizontal recess 4 of substantially rectangular contour also provided in the thickened portion 4c. The arrangement is such that the terminal portion of the rod which constitutes the hook 4b, i.e. the upper end of the second branch of the U, may be forced into the aforesaid groove 4e, as illustrated in FIG. 6, its transverse head or button 4d being disposed in the recess 47. It will be appreciated that owing to the resilient character of the plastic material employed, the said terminal portion is then safely retained in position, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Groove 4e is substantially in line with rod portion 4g and the second branch of the U which forms the lower hook 4b is preferably bent twice through a small angle, respectively inwardly and outwardly, as shown at 4h and 4i, in order that at the closed position of the hook (FIG. 3) the upper end of this second branch may be substantially in line with the vertical axis of the U and with rod portion 4g.

The neck cord described is quite inextensible and uninfluenced by atmospheric conditions. Since it is obtained by a moulding process, its length is quite accurate and therefore all the neck cords of a given harness are fully identical with each other. The lower hook 4b permits of easily attaching the corresponding harness cords by means of their upper loops without requiring a separate snap hook. The head or button 4d prevents any possible opening of the lower hook under the action of the pull exerted by the harness cords. The general conformation of the mould by means of which the neck cords are manufactured may easily be such as to avoid any sharp edge liable to catch adjacent harness cords. Finally owing to the very low coeflicient of friction of plastic materials such as polyamides, wear is practically eliminated as well for the cords themselves as for the bottom board through which they are passed.

I claim:

1. A neck cord for the hooks of a weaving Jacquard comprising a single member of molded plastic material, said member embodying an upper portion formed for connection with the lower end of a hook of the Jacquard; a substantially vertical rod portion having an upper and a lower end, with said upper end integral with said upper portion; an enlarged portion integral with said lower end of said rod portion, said enlarged portion having a fiat lateral side with a lower edge and with a substantially horizontal recess in said side and with a substantially vertical groove extending upwardly in said side from said lower edge thereof to said recess; a lower U-shaped hook portion having a first substantially vertical branch and a second substantially vertical branch connected with each other by their lower ends, the upper end of said first branch being integral with said enlarged portion and the upper end of said second portion having a transversely protruding terminal head, said upper end of said second branch being capable of being resiliently engaged into said groove while said transversely protruding head fits within said recess to prevent said upper end of said second branch from sliding downwardly in said groove.

2. In a neck cord as claimed in claim 1, said enlarged portion being of substantially semi-circular cross-section.

3. In a neck cord as claimed in claim 1, said vertical groove being substantially in line with said rod por tion and said second branch of said U-shaped portion being bent twice through a small angle, respectively inwardly and outwardly with respect to the U, in such a manner that when the upper end of said second branch is engaged into said groove, said upper end be substantially in line with the vertical axis of the U and with said rod portion.

Great Britain Apr. 24, 1941 Great Britain Feb. 2, 1955 

